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Public Confidence Towards National Church Shoots Up, Membership Never Lower
Public trust towards the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Iceland’s national church, has not been higher since 2008, according to a recent Gallup poll. According to the survey, 47 percent of respondents claim to have high, very high, or complete confidence in the institution. …
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Increased Trust In National Church
A recent survey by Gallup shows approval ratings increasing among the Icelandic public towards the National Church, RÚV reports. The institution increased its public trust by 16% since 2024, culminating in 43%. Its ratings have never been higher in 16 years. Guðrún…
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Online Alcohol Merchants Closed By Police
The capital area police closed the operations of various alcohol merchants on December 26, RÚV and Vísir report. According to Icelandic alcohol laws, distribution and sale of liquor is prohibited during national holidays. The National Church’s official holidays during Christmas are December…
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Rainbow Flag Vandalism At Church Is Part Of Larger Setback In Struggle For LGBTQ+ Rights
The rainbow flag painted in front of Grafarvogur Church has been vandalised again, according to a post on the church’s Facebook page. [su_pullquote]We are having a summer sale on all our Icelandic soaps, scrubs, face masks, perfumes and more! These are all…
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Glerá Church Makes Statement Of Inclusivity
Volunteers painted their version of the “Progress Pride” flag on the doorstep of Glerá Church in Akureyri to demonstrate the church’s acceptance of everyone, reports RÚV. [su_pullquote]Who better to ask what’s best in Reykjavík than the people who live here? Every year…
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National Church Declines, Humanist Society Sees Increase
A new announcement from the National Registry shares some interesting data points when it comes to religious and philosophical organisation membership in Iceland. [su_pullquote]Join our High Five Club at either the ‘Secret Handshake’ or ‘Elbow Five’ level, and get our monthly magazine…
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Little Trust In The National Church Among Icelanders
Accroding to Gallup’s newly released poll, Icelanders don’t seem to have trust in the national church and its bishop, Agnes M. Sigurðardóttir, reports Vísir. The suffragan bishop of Hólar thinks that people’s ignorance of the church explains the lack of trust in…
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Icelandic Priests Object To Proposal To Stop Charging People For Certain Priest Services
A new proposal from The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland council seeks to do away with the common practice of priests charging a fee for common practices such as weddings, baptisms and funerals. However, the Association of Icelandic Priests (PÍ) objects strongly…
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Humanism And Ásatrú Paganism On The Rise In Iceland
Humanism is the fastest-growing religious or philosophical group in Iceland, closely followed by Ásatrú paganism, according to the latest National Registry figures. Meanwhile, membership to the National Church of Iceland continues to dwindle. Between December 2019 and June 1st, the number of members…
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Pagans Are The Largest Non-Christian Faith In Iceland
According to the latest data from the National Registry, members of the Ásatrú Society comprise the largest non-Christian religion in Iceland. The National Church is still the largest religious organisation in the country, but some 25% of Icelanders are either outside any…
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National Church Will Plant A Tree For Every Child Baptised
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland, better known as the National Church, has launched a new initiative, Fréttablaðið reports: to plant a new tree for every child baptised in the church. Bishop Agnes Sigurðardóttir announced the plans for a “baptism forest” in…
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Fewer Newborn Children Being Registered In National Church
The percentage of newborn children who are registered into the National Church has been in steady decline for nearly a decade, Fréttablaðið reports, and last year that percentage fell below 50% for the first time. As recently as 2003, over 83% of…
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Decline of Icelandic Church: Scandals And Controversy Lead To Mass Exodus
The number of Icelanders who trust the National Church has decreased by half since the turn of the century. Only one third of the nation now trusts the Church, according to a Gallup poll published on October 28. In a nation without…
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Bishop Of Iceland Asks For, And Receives, Sizable Pay Rise
The Bishop of Iceland requested and received a 21% pay rise, and now earns 1.55 million ISK per month. RÚV reports that Bishop Agnes Sigurðardóttir received a rise of 270,000 ISK – the average minimum wage for most workers in Iceland –…
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Pirate Captain: The Church Should Give Their Tax Money To Health Care
Pirate Party captain Birgitta Jónsdóttir told listeners on the Harmageddon radio show this morning that the national church ought to give a portion of the tax money that the proposed budget has outlined for them to Iceland’s faltering health care system. As…
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Not Just The Lord’s Work: Meet The Lutheran Ministers Who Stood Up For Asylum Seekers
Kristín Þórunn Tómasdóttir and Toshiki Toma are two Lutheran ministers who made headlines earlier this month when they opened Laugarneskirkja to asylum seekers wanting sanctuary from deportation. Video and photos of police entering the church and dragging an Iraqi teenager out have…
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Supreme Court Justice Slams Deputy State Prosecutor On Church Remarks
As reported, Deputy state prosecutor Helgi Magnús Gunnarsson has harshly criticised the church over last week’s incident, wherein Laugarneskirkja church provided sanctuary to some asylum seekers facing deportation. Police would encounter no resistance before, during or after the arrest of these asylum…
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Church Loses, Zuism Gains Followers
Thousands left the National Church – and thousands more became Zuists – during the last quarter of 2015, new data from the National Registry reveals. According to the newly-released figures, some 2,400 Icelanders de-registered from the National Church between October 1 and…
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Bishop: “Unnatural” For President To Not Be In National Church
Bishop of Iceland Agnes M. Sigurðardóttir believes it would be unnatural for the next president to not be in the national church. In an interview with Kjarninn on the up-coming presidential elections, the bishop weighed in on what qualities she believes the…
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Iceland’s First Openly Gay Deacon Ordained
Iceland’s first openly gay deacon has been ordained, and will serve at a church already well known for defending LGBTQIA rights. RÚV reports that Hrafnhildur Eyþórsdóttir has been ordained, and will serve as a deacon at Laugarneskirkja church. Hrafnhildur bears the distinction…
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Very Few Ministers Would Evoke “Freedom Of Conscience”
Only two ministers reached in a new poll said they would evoke the exemption to refuse to marry a same-sex couple. 153 ministers registered with the national church were contacted to respond to a new poll conducted by Fréttablaðið, which asked if…
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National Queer Organisation May Take National Church To Court
The National Queer Organisation is considering taking the national church to court over a so-called “freedom of conscience” exemption for ministers to not marry same-sex couples. One minister has already come forward, calling the exemption “nonsense” and saying “religion does not trump…
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National Church Gets Funding Increase, Young Conservatives Opposed
The National Church has gotten its wish for a budget increase, totaling close to 410 million ISK, and not everyone is entirely pleased. Vísir reports that the 2016 budget proposes that government support for the national church increase by 409.7 million ISK,…